A STEEL FOUNDRY.

Otago Witness, Volume 25, Issue 2321, 25 August 1898, Page 20

A STEEL FOUNDRY.

A NEW INDUSTRY. The Dunedin Foundry and Engineering ; Company have their new steel foundry now ; in operation, and judging from the orders ! that aro coming in it supplies a felt want in ' iliG community. The new building specially fitted up for this class of ivork, which is the first of its kind in Dunedin, covers a floor / space of 45ft by AOii. The smoke stack con- ( nected with the Turnace is 60ft in height, j being lined with firebrick to a height of 20ft. j Ihe furnace is operated by natural draught, j no blast being required to get up the heat re- 1 quired to convert steel into a molten liquid, j A good part of the floor space is used for , moulding, as from the nature of the material ' to be handled the mould must be close to the '• furnace. There is only one furnace in the j meantime ; but to overtake a big order re- [ cpntly received two additional iurnaces will j bo fitted up, so that shortly there will be ! three furnaces available, cajpable of melting enough steel to make a casting up to 15001b v, eight. The big casting for which extra provision will have to bo made will weigh 11201)3. j The annealing oven in connection with the ; foundry is capable of annealing. iOcwt of steel ■ castings at one time. It is mtfst interesting , to witness the different manipulations in the , process of casting steel. To begin with, none j but the best steel is used for this purpose, and i it has to be broken or cut to a size small ! enough to go into the crucibles, which are [ lr^ade of special material, having graphite as i the basis of tho mixture. The crucibles re- ; main in the furnace several hours, until the metal is ready, in the opinion of the expert • in charge, for pouring out into the moulds. | To one wjio has uovor seen this part of the j process before it scorns almo&t miraculous to j see a metal like stet-1 converted into a liquid i and poured out liko milk, which it is not un- j j like in appearance as it flows out of the [ crucible. When the castings have set, they j aro taken out of the mould, cleaned, dressed, , and put into the annealing oven, where they J are kept at a red heat for about 48 hours. The , fires arc then drawn and the whole allowed to i cool off gradually. Annealing changes the ! character of the metal from the brittleness of i filo steel to tough malleable steel. Jnoots for ! forging are ca&t and prepared in exactly the ! same May. Already tho fi'-m have sent oub ' a good many o'^dors, and to show that a want • has been supplied it is only necessary to state ' that orders have come in from points as far ] tvpart as Auckland and Westport. The firm | have secured tho Government railway contract j for twelve months for steel castings, which ( j speaks well for the quality of the work turned j '. ! rut. Mr T. Waddell, late of Christchurch, } , is the export in charge of that parl of the firm's business. He is reported to be the only moulder in tho colony who has made a success of steel casting, and it is mainly on that account, and of previous work done by him j , for the department, that the railway contract ■ has been secured. The heavy wear and tear J in mining dredging is certain to lead to steel J taking the place of iron in castings, bo that j this business may be said only to have made.; J a beginning. In addition to casting steql. the J firm undertake the casting of aluminium | 1 bronze, phosphor bronze, and delta metal, j J When the wide demand for steel castings is < ' considered, it -will bo understood that the now i < industry has a very promising future before j > it. '<

The Oroimvell Argus has changed hands, the purchasers being Messrs Abel Wavbuvtoti and W. J. Scott. Possession is to be taken on 31st December,